Jump to content

Lower ball joint replacement?


BillNC

Recommended Posts

It may be nothing more than the brand of replacement part you purchased came with bolts bigger than the holes in the lower arm.

Why? Maybe they save money by suppling all their ball joints with the same size bolt and figure the mechanic can drill out the holes. They could have gone to a better grade of bolt but smaller in size.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest imported_REATAMANZ

Delphi exited the ball joint business last year. Believe GM is now getting service from Korea. If you part was GM this may be the reason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Barney and EDBSO thanks for the replies. The ball joint brand is Duralast with grade 8.8 marked on the bolts. I'll use it, since I had a tuff time removing the 3 rivets, I first ground the heads off and couldn't drive them out, even drilled them all the way through, unfortunately off center slightly elongating two holes. Then after using an air impact chisel I was finally able to drive out the rivet remains. What bummed me out I was trying to be so careful not damage the ABS toothed ring in the whole process, then at the end when I was using the impact tool, the top of the old ball joint stud rattled up against the ring putting a few small nicks in it. I hope it doesn't screw up the signal too much. Amazing how such a simple job can turn into such an ordeal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I agree, I wish I didn't install that ball joint. The worse thing about Duralast is the lousy seal design. I drilled out the lower arm slightly trying to be so careful since I already been a running losing streak on this simple task. Well, one hole suddenly grabbed the drill and nicked a tiny hole in the outer boot. Good grief what next! I put a little sealer on that. Then I moved onward and installed and secured the 3 bolts. I moved the stud to install it and found out the entire base of seal outer diameter is not even securely fastened to the lower part of the ball joint. In use the seal is a cover sliding around the entire outer diameter of the lower part of the ball joint allowing the grease to ooze out and the dirt and water to creep in. What feeling of accomplishment after finishing the job, I'm by far, worse off now than before I started. Too bad I didn't see the earlier posting about Duracrap because DURALAST SHOULD NEVER BE USED. I never had so much grief on such a simple task and this weekend I'm not even sure if I should dare attack the weird Anti-stop Brake System problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...